Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States - Lutheran Semiary's God Pause "Moved by the Promise" for Monday, 28 July 2014 - Read Isaiah 55:1-5

Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States - Lutheran Semiary's God Pause "Moved by the Promise" for Monday, 28 July 2014 - Read Isaiah 55: Buy Without Money
1-5 “Hey there! All who are thirsty,
    come to the water!
Are you penniless?
    Come anyway—buy and eat!
Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk.
    Buy without money—everything’s free!
Why do you spend your money on junk food,
    your hard-earned cash on cotton candy?
Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best,
    fill yourself with only the finest.
Pay attention, come close now,
    listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words.
I’m making a lasting covenant commitment with you,
    the same that I made with David: sure, solid, enduring love.
I set him up as a witness to the nations,
    made him a prince and leader of the nations,
And now I’m doing it to you:
    You’ll summon nations you’ve never heard of,
and nations who’ve never heard of you
    will come running to you
Because of me, your God,
    because The Holy of Israel has honored you.”(The Message)
Our son, Anders, has an elaborate bedtime routine. After pajamas and brushing teeth, then stories and songs, he's finally ready. But just when we think his eyes are closing, he sits up straight with one last request: "Oh, I need a drink." He needs water, then he can rest. God's people have always known thirst. This was especially true during the time of exile in Babylon. They thirsted for freedom, for home, for the reminder that the God of their ancestors still cared for them. How sweet a sound it must have been when they first heard the cry: "Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and you that have no money, come buy and eat!" (Isaiah 55:1). God had come to quench their thirst and give them longed-for rest. God does the same for us as we come again to his living waters and find rest for our souls.
God, quench my thirst again this day. Wash me in the waters of my baptism. Bring me back to your kingdom where I, with all your people, find love and rest. Amen.
David R. Lyle
Pastor, St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Pawleys Island, S.C. 
Master of Divinity , 2002
Isaiah 55:1 Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.
3 Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.
4 See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples.
5 See, you shall call nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.(New Revised Standard Version)
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